IN-PERSON: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

Inequality is a concept evident in today’s universal agenda for urban development, especially in the context of developing regions such as Southeast Asia. The act of decentralization in governance claims to tackle the issue. With the fuel to decentralization ingrained to strong participatory ways, eluding to a ‘bottom-up’ approach to city planning; this paper aims to explore, through the lens of ‘creative cities’, how active citizenship can bloom. In other words, how can cities that are more creative build spaces to nurture active citizens. The study will explore mentioned concepts and its relations in the context of ASEAN, namely cities in Southeast Asia, where more light is to be shed academically. Chiang Mai, Penang, Bandung, Cebu – creative cities in-the-making, opening doors to new arenas of policy-making and place-making for the future.